Looping: May 2025
30 Jun 2025Here are the loop jams I captured from the month of May. I actually had the pleasure of playing with a friend multiple times this month (that’s a video for another day) but that did mean fewer solo loops than usual. A couple of these loops were however based on chord progressions from her songs, part of practicing to play more together.
I’ve been making and recording loops like this for a year, and dropping them on YouTube for at least half of that. But that’s not a great format to give extra detail. So I’m going to try delving into that here on the lob to discuss my opinion on each loop, as well as the effects and thought process behind each. Do you think I should keep doing this? Give me feedback (as comments on the video or wherever you can find me) about which loops you liked the most (that’s why they’re numbered).
| The embedded clips below all show the same thumbnails, but I assure you they are each set to jump the right unique moment. Full video here. |
Loop 1
This one has a relaxed slow vibe that is what I’ve really been enjoying lately. It’s also got a longer repeat with the chord progression than most of my recent loops, giving more space to be dynamic with the lead. A slow jam with a bit of overdrive crunch and some delay… I can sit in that groove for a long time.
Loop 2
I don’t start enough jams on the bouzouki. This one started with a simple riff, and then from there I just wanted to keep everything acoustic. So add an acoustic bass and a little bit of reverby trumpet (not an instrument I’m strong with, but something I love in the mix). And the only place to go from there is to keep it acoustic and layer on a jam with my Taylor.
Loop 3
This chord progression is from my friend’s song. We intend to play this and other songs of hers at an upcoming small festival, so I thought I’d practice over the core structure. This isn’t really the right rhythm though (side effect of defaulting to using my rhythm looper pedal), but it provided enough to toy with. I went with a vibrato lead because the whole thing felt old timey.
Loop 4
I started with a bass line just by using the Pitch Fork to down-octave my guitar (a common option for when I just want to get moving quickly). Add some tremolo chords on that and… we’ve got another slow jam. These days these are my favorite place to sit.
Loop 5
Another example of workshopping something over a chord progression from a song I’m supposed to be practicing. I liked the downward motion of the simple faux-bass. Given that arrangement, a fuzzy guitar sounded appropriate. And if I’m not mistaken, this is my trying out the Wave Cannon to get some middle-of-the-road distorted tones.
Loop 6
I try to film the whole process of creating the loop so I can include the original samples for the edit. This was an example where I had got interrupted, had to step away after starting the loop, and come back and recreate it. Which gives me a lot more ability to be precise in planning for an end destination (instead of what I usually do which is just layer until I’m happy). The key part was the second layer here with the fixed “pedal tone” (not a single pedal note, but a stationary repeating section). It felt right to keep a clean tone on all those first bits, until the contrasting tremolo chord sequence came in. Just a bit of overdrive for the lead tone, with reverb coming from the Afterneath if I’m not mistaken.